The Crooked Path of Faith

Finding God amid doubt and hard questions.

Devotion

Week of June 26, 2017

“I questioned God’s existence,” Andrea Lucado writes in her memoir English Lessons: The Crooked Path of Growing Toward Faith. She grew up as a committed Christian and a pastor’s kid (her father is Max Lucado), yet she found herself wrestling with doubt and hard questions in graduate school. In this week’s devotions, Lucado examines the critical—and even life-giving—role that doubt and questioning can play in a dynamic life of faith.

Today’s Verse

“And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”

1 Thessalonians 5:14 (NIV)

For those who walk the journey of faith, doubt is inevitable. It is not so much a question of if you will doubt, but when. It creeps in in various forms. You may doubt the basics, such as the existence of God. Or you may doubt an aspect of the faith, such as the validity of Scripture or God’s character.

Whatever form doubt arrives in, shame is often its common companion. What would people think if they knew the questions you were secretly asking? We tend to be ashamed of our doubts, so we keep them to ourselves.

The New Testament portrays the early church as a community of believers who relied on each other for every need: physical, relational, and spiritual. Paul tells the church in Thessalonica, a city rife with pagan idolatry, to “warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone” (1 Thess. 5:14).

Encourage the disheartened. Help the weak.

We will not always feel strong in our faith. Circumstances rattle us. We are surrounded by beliefs that are at odds with the gospel. But we were not meant to live the life of faith alone; we were meant to practice our faith in community—in the body of Christ—encouraging those who are faint of heart and helping those who are weak.

You don’t have to travel the road of doubt alone. Don’t let shame keep your questions and fears in the dark. We were not called to be strong every second of every day. We are called to rely on Christ as our strength and to rely on the body for what we need, even when what we need most is faith.

Reflect:
Read 1 Thessalonians 5:14. How could you rely on the body of Christ in your struggles right now? Or how could you be an encouragement to someone else in his or her struggles?

Pray:
Thank God for the gift of community. Ask for strength to reach out to someone today and be honest with that person about your faith journey. Or ask God if there is anyone in your life whom you could encourage.